Dog Date - Zinger [LP] Vinyl Record

DOG DATE has such sights to show you. Controlled chaos is the name of the game for the New York City-based five-piece-heavy on the latter and light on the former. Powered by two guitars, bass, and not one, but two drummers, DOG DATE is a rock 'n' roll force to be reckoned with, and their sophomore full-length, Zinger, is a technicolor blast of distortion and hooks that's sure to put a smile on your face.Beginning in 2015 as the home recording project of guitarist/vocalist Dylan Kennedy, DOG DATEfirst came up playing and recording in basements around New Jersey, releasing a handful of demo cassettes leading up to 2019's Hellpod tape, which caught the attention of Baltimore's Pop Wig Records. Soon Malcolm Spraggs Hoyt (guitar), Leo Didkovsky (drums), and Kristian Pitaccio (drums) were brought on to flesh out the live band, and the group began to gain a reputation for their uniquely pummeling dualdrummer attack and ripping guitars. 2021 saw the release of DOG DATE's debut LP, Child's Play, and their lineup solidifed with the addition of Andy Stoffo on bass. The shows in support of Child's Play-which included performances with the likes of TURNSTILE, ANGEL DU$T, MANNEQUIN PUSSY, THE BOBBY LEE'S, SMIRK, SURFBORT, and more-allowed the group to further hone their playful, punk-infused pandemonium, and that high-voltage live spirit would prove essential to the creation of Zinger. Where the previous DOG DATE recordings were made piecemeal by Kennedy alone, Zinger is the work of a well-oiled unit in their element. 'We really wanted to bring that live dynamic into the studio and play everything together,' explains Kennedy. 'We recorded live with only a handful of overdubs, and having both drummers playing together on this one was so important for us because they're able to bounce off one another so naturally.' The unrestrained energy was captured at Hyperballad Studios by engineers Matt Labozza and Morgan Miller, resulting in a lean set of furious-yet-welcoming songs that bring all the members' collective strengths to bear.Zinger imagines a world where Billy Corgan joined THE WIPERS-a thick wall of dimed-out, Big Muff fuzz applied to spiky, hyperactive punkrock songs. 'Nirvana' opens the record with a bang, sounding like MUDHONEY on a primitive hardcore kick before an unexpectedly intricate and melodic bridge offers a moment of respite in the distorted ruckus. Tracks like 'Nuff Said,''F Bomb,' and 'Cruel World Reversal' fly by with a mix of fury and friendliness, combining biting riffs with shout-along choruses. Elsewhere, 'Slug' and 'Theory Orb' offer (slightly) slower tempos that somehow manage to groove while also kicking you in the teeth, and 'Twin Star' packs a healthy dose of melody without sacrificing an ounce of sweaty swagger. It's a cathartic sound and so is Kennedy's lyricism, the raw words working in tandem with the music. 'The somewhat frantic nature of this music makes it fitting to write about inner anxieties,' he says. 'Hopefully by the last song of this record I'm maybe getting over some of the panic and anger from the beginning.'So if you have 26 minutes to spare, spend it with the steamrolling rock 'n' roll bedlam of Zinger-and DOG DATE will show you such sightsTRACK LISTSIDE A1. Nirvana2. Nuff Said3. Spine Transfer4. F Bomb5. Duplo6. Cruel World ReversalSIDE B1. Theory Orb2. Slug3. Xipe4. Twin Star5. I Love That Story